The marketing world is witnessing the beginning of the end of the “average” rule.

The future of internet marketing and Big Data involves identifying and delivering the right content on the right channel at the right time to the right person in order to maximize valuable consumer action. This concept is not only fundamentally changing the way we do business, but it’s proving to be the great equalizer in number of different areas.

The way we see it, there are two main gaps in the marketing industry that Big Data can minimize.

The first would be the one between companies, specifically marketers, and consumers. A lag in time between consumer purchase and marketing actions (in both directions) can cause a lack of immediate and informative communication between the two parties. This is where fast Big Data technology and real-time, personalized marketing come into play. Systems with Big Data capability can collect extensive data regarding customer habits, sales patterns, competitors’ tactics, online trends, future events, past events, and much more (http://www.business2community./strategy/big-data-creates-winwin-for-businesses-and-consumers-0214732#9fMW0gH6McD5vf5w.99). Customers also provide personal opinions and information on social media sites and companies can track attitudes and gain insight on a large scale. Fortunately, marketers can now communicate more often with customers in real time, on social media platforms, in-store, or via mobile device. Mobile-marketing is still young, but it has shown steady growth in recent years. This real-time effect, coupled with Big Data technology, can help marketers anticipate customer demand and take action accordingly. In fact, they can even recognize patterns that support integrated cross-channel marketing to appeal to specific target markets or individuals.

This wealth of detailed data allows marketers to communicate more efficiently and effectively with customers while personalizing the marketing messages they send them. This technique can involve providing excellent customer service, strengthening customer loyalty, approaching a unique (potentially niche) market, or doing anything positive to make your company stand out from the crowd. Specifically, online consumers are more sophisticated than ever before, and so they need to see a strong benefit in return for providing their personal info for targeted advertisements.

It may sound like personalized marketing takes too much time, money, and effort, but in the end, money is spent more wisely and marketing messages reach the right people. We have to work smart, not hard.

The second gap that is steadily narrowing is the one between large and small businesses. Larger companies have traditionally had the upper hand, as they tend to have a greater number of resources, higher budgets, and more clout. However, more quality data analytics technology is becoming affordable for smaller businesses. Now, small companies and start-ups can get their hands on the tools they need to analyze the information that is essential to understanding and getting in touch with customers. The decrease in traditional barriers to industry has allowed small companies and start-ups to not only get started, but also to compete with larger companies who have typically held the advantage. This empowerment keeps costs down for small companies as they become more effective in their chosen market. In short, Big Data encourages smaller players to join the game, which can only be a positive.

At the end of the day, the narrowing of these gaps in the marketing industry are a win-win situation for companies and consumers. Consumers aren’t buried under endless and meaningless advertisements, while marketers adapt their messages to connect with their target markets. Smaller companies can compete with larger ones in their industry, which benefits both the industry and its customers.

We can talk all day about the benefits of Big Data in marketing, but we have to remember that all of the information we have is essentially useless unless we take action. It’s what you do with the data that matters because the future of data is how it will be used to drive quality improvements, and better outcomes.